Quotient Clinical, a provider of outsourced, early stage drug development services to the pharmaceutical industry, has been acquired from the Quotient Bioresearch Group by Bridgepoint Development Capital for an undisclosed sum. Employing over 200 people, Quotient Clinical has developed a platform which offers an integrated approach to formulation development, "real-time" drug product manufacturing and clinical testing. Using this platform has been proven to significantly reduce the time and cost of the early stage drug development process.

The company has a global customer base comprising a range of top tier pharmaceutical companies through to small-medium sized biotech organizations. More than three quarters of its revenues are derived from customers based in the U.S. or mainland Europe. It has two operational facilities in the U.K. The principal site in Nottingham has a certified 85-bed clinical pharmacology unit with an integrated drug manufacturing facility employing formulation chemists, and clinical staff including nurses and doctors. The second facility in Edinburgh houses the company's Biometrics function responsible for the analysis and reporting of clinical trial data.

The outsourced drug development market currently is valued at $30 billion, is forecast to grow at up to 6% and is characterized by a focus on speed to market to maximize value from a drug's period under patent. The addressable market for Quotient's services derives from its Translational Pharmaceutics platform is conservatively estimated to be worth over $400 million.

Quotient Clinical currently is part of Quotient Group, which is disposing of the business and represents a primary management buyout. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory clearances.